Payments messaging firm SWIFT announced on Tuesday Feb 12 that it will now allow corporates to join its KYC Registry in an effort to facilitate the sharing of data between companies and their banks The move targets one of the largest pain points of Know Your Customer KYC compliance for businesses and their financial institutions FIs the complexity linked to corporations that use multiple banks across multiple jurisdictions SWIFT noted that these cases present KYC challenges because data exchanged between all these parties is often incomplete or out of date SWIFTs KYC Registry offers entities a unified platform through which they can upload and share standardized KYC data Corporate treasurers cite KYC as one of the top three challenges they face in their bank relationships said SWIFTs Head of KYC Compliance Services Marie-Charlotte Henseval in a statement noting that the addition of corporates to the KYC Registry will extend them the same advantages with a standard agreed upon by the community and a secure platform enabling efficient data sharing Indeed researchers have found evidence that companies are struggling to manage the growing weight of KYC anti-money laundering AML and other financial regulatory compliance demands The mesh of AML and customer due diligence processes that make up a holistic KYC compliance strategy can add administrative burdens slow down onboarding times for corporates and their banks and expose businesses including small ones to the plethora of non-compliance risks International Monetary Fund IMF estimations pointed to a total money laundering volume of 21 trillion across the globe with billions of dollars in fines issued by regulators against banks and corporations Increasing sophistication of money launderers and other financial criminals has led regulators to introduce even more stringent KYC and AML rules too Reports in CNBC last week shed light on one way criminals money laundering tactics are evolving According to the publication bad actors are flocking to the gig economy and services like Uber and Airbnb to launder money Advertisements on the dark web promote opportunities for Uber drivers and Airbnb hosts to partake in the scam in which a criminal pays the gig worker for a job that was never completed via a stolen credit card The worker an Uber driver Airbnb host or otherwise then repays that criminal The tactic allows criminals to launder money processed through these gig economy platforms with evidence of this practice going back at least two years Trustwave SpiderLabs VP of Security Research Ziv Mador told the publication that the cybersecurity space needs to take a closer look at what cybercriminals do with their funds after a successful cyberattack and how they launder money Gig workers themselves face legal risks as a result too according to an Uber spokesperson One reason its enticing to the real driver is they think at least Im getting paid for driving a route that Im normally driving anyway he told the publication What they dont realize is its not just defrauding Uber or our platform its wire fraud Its serious legal liability for the driver However the tactic exposes companies like Uber and Airbnb to massive KYC and AML non-compliance risks as well Reports said Uber first took note of this money laundering scam in China while collaboration with US law enforcement led to 13 arrests in New York in 2017 Another spokesperson for Airbnb said the company takes its responsibility as a participant in the financial ecosystem seriously and has developed sophisticated models systems and processes to detect and prevent all forms of misuse and illegal activity The company added that Airbnb deploys its own compliance and security controls and collaborates with FIs regulators and law enforcement to spot new trends in potential misuse and illegal activity and share information to combat illicit activity According to SWIFT that sharing of information between companies banks and other relevant parties is an essential component of KYC and AML compliance and one of the most challenging too In an era of constantly evolving regulation and KYC obligations both corporates and banks seek to simplify the maintenance process of exchanging KYC data SWIFT said in its Tuesday announcement With data often disseminated across multiple sources incomplete or out of date banks have to repeatedly follow up ad update information with their corporate customers Upcoming Live PYMNTS Digital Discussion Join Karen Webster and Kevin Lee on Tuesday February 12 2019 at 1 00 PM EST to learn the best practices on how to transform your Fraud team into a Trust and Safety organization that is built to thrive and enable your company to achieve mission critical goals for 2019 and beyond Airbnb AML B2B B2B Payments bank regulation compliance data regulation financial risk gig economy Gig Workers KYC money laundering News SWIFT Uber